Betsy Bonaparte

Born to a wealthy Baltimore family, Elizabeth Patterson shook local and Parisian society in 1803 when she married Jerome Bonaparte, brother of the Emperor Napoleon. Having other plans for his brother, the emperor annulled the marriage; but not before it produced a son, Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte. Betsy's efforts to win royal status for her son and grandsons consumed the remainder of her life. The glamorous "belle of Baltimore" proved to be a shrewd businesswoman determined to protect her family. Softbound , 244 pages.